GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
ADVERTISEMENT
Filtered By: Sports
Sports
Azkals reel in Swiss midfielder, continue global search for younger players
+
Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.
Swiss-Filipino midfielder Martin Steuble (left) converses with Azkals team captain Emelio "Chieffy" Caligdong (right) during the Peace Cup send-off Monday evening.
Top management of the Philippine men's national football team, also known as the Azkals, introduced Monday evening Swiss-Filipino midfielder Martin Markus Steuble as their newest incoming player, in yet another move to add younger players to the squad.
Head coach Michael Weiss said Steuble, 25, “plays professional football every week” in Switzerland and can help “rejuvenate” the Azkals.
Weiss said he hopes to bring in a second player and maybe even a third to follow Steuble, who played two seasons of football from 2008 to 2010 in the Swiss Super League before he entered the Challenge League, where he has been for the past three years.
The Azkals head coach declined to identify the other prospects as efforts to get them are still in progress. He also clarified that Steuble will not yet play in this year's Peace Cup because he has yet to get a Philippine passport and still has to undergo assessments.
Weiss added that younger players are needed because "some of the players will sooner or later look for other opportunities in football."
The Azkals team manager added that the national team is looking forward to having a football camp in Europe and in the United States. — DVM, GMA News
Peace Cup
Weiss and team manager Dan Palami introduced Steuble to the media during a send-off dinner for the Azkals at the Bonifacio Global City. The team is set to fly to Bacolod for the upcoming Peace Cup, where they will have matches against Chinese Taipei and Pakistan.
Palami said Peace Cup organizers earlier hoped to see teams from Uganda and Rwanda join them in Bacolod. “We would have preferred stronger opponents,” the Azkals team manager said.
Azkals coach Michael Weiss and team manager Dan Palami sporting the new home kit of the Azkals made by Puma.
Palami said Peace Cup organizers earlier hoped to see teams from Uganda and Rwanda join them in Bacolod. “We would have preferred stronger opponents,” the Azkals team manager said.
The Philippines, 141st in the FIFA rankings, is ahead of Chinese-Taipei and Pakistan, which are ranked 175th and 170th, respectively.
Despite this, Palami added that the matches would still give the Azkals the opportunity to “work on their cohesion” and delight Filipino fans.
Palami also said the Peace Cup experience is "a step towards the ultimate goal which is to become champions of the AFC Challenge Cup."
In November, the Azkals are scheduled to play friendlies against the United Arab Emirates and India.
